


Home

by Humansunshine



Series: Maia Month 2018 [6]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Angst, Maia Month 2018, Maia goes back to Jersey, Mention of Simon/Maia, Past minor character death, mention of Jordan/Maia, post 3x08
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-10
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-06-08 06:21:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15237312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Humansunshine/pseuds/Humansunshine
Summary: Maia needs time to think.





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**Author's Note:**

  * For [maiaslightwood](https://archiveofourown.org/users/maiaslightwood/gifts).



> OOF this is very different to my normal kind of ficlet. Maia basically reflects on stuff, and the tone of this is quite depressing, honestly. Read with caution!
> 
> This was Rike's last request! "OBVIOUSLY i'm also always here for something maia centric that doesn't have ships at all! so anything on what she has been up to since she left in 3.08 or literally anything else, LETS CELEBRATE THIS QUEEN!"
> 
> I'M SORRY THIS IS SAD BUT I'M SAD SO HERE

When Maia had left Jersey, after being turned, she promised herself that she’d never go back. Too much had happened there. Her brother, her parents, Jordan, the turn. Nothing there could ever make her happy. 

Yet when she left New York, there was nowhere else she could think to go. It didn’t occur to her until she was already sat on the Greyhound. She sighed to herself, sinking down a little in her seat. No-one had sat next to her, so she relaxed and tried not to think too hard about what she was going to do when she got back. Did she know anyone in Jersey, now? There were a couple of old school friends she was Facebook friends with, but no-one close enough to let her stay with them.

Motel it was, then, Maia told herself. 

She found herself outside her parents’ house. They’d never moved, even though it was just the two of them now. The plastic slide from Maia’s childhood was still in the front yard, gross from mildew. No-one had used it in fifteen years. Now it stood there in memoriam of Cal, Maia’s brother. For a long time, Maia stood there, across the street. She didn’t dare go to his grave. 

The front door of the house opened, and she scarpered before she even saw who’d come out. 

No-one followed. 

The beach was still exactly the same as it had been three years ago. It was utterly untouched by time, even down to the body boarders. They recognised her, and she gave a wave before laying out her jacket to sit on. One of the surfers was missing, and Maia was relieved to see it. She had no idea if Jordan would stay in New York now that she’d gone. Perhaps he’d finally fuck off to Fiji, and she’d never see him again. 

There was a reason why she’d chosen marine biology. The ocean was a whole other world, violent and endless, but here, on its surface, it was soothing and predictable. Maia watched the waves crash, her book in her hands. She could feel her hair getting stiff from the salt in the air, and she closed her eyes, breathing in the sea air. This feeling was the closest to home that she could ever remember. Her book stayed unopened for a long time, as Maia willed time to rewind. Any moment, the world would shift around her, and Jordan would walk up to her, surfboard under his arm, making some quip about the weather, and she’d tell him to fuck off. She’d do better this time, make smarter choices.

With a sigh, she opened her eyes, and folded her legs up to her chest, her eyes on the horizon. 

She wondered how the pack was doing. Bat was probably bored stiff without her there, and Russell was most likely going out of his mind without something to bitch about. Luke missed her. She knew that. She missed him too. 

For a second, her thoughts turned to Simon, and she quickly pushed him out of her mind, focussing once more on the waves. She wasn’t ready to think about him yet, wasn’t ready to face the fact that things were probably over between them. He needed Jordan, and she couldn’t be around Jordan. 

She couldn’t be around him again.

One morning, when Maia woke up, the clouds hanging around the coast had lifted. She went to the beach again, and read her book. She’d finished the three she’d brought in her backpack, and had to buy another one at the bookstore in town. Halfway through a chapter, she put down the book and rummaged in her bag for her phone. It had been off for three weeks. Suddenly it seemed absolutely essential that she turned it on. 

There were thirty texts. Twenty of them were from Simon, nine were from Luke, and one was from Magnus. She read Magnus’ first, which was a sweet note hoping that she was safe, and that he was there to talk to if she needed to talk. Luke’s were mostly made up of gentle coaxing, but in the last few days he’d been begging her to come back. He’d left the pack. 

Without reading Simon’s messages, Maia shoved her book in her bag, and replied to Luke, promising that she’d be on the next bus home. 

Home.

**Author's Note:**

> Taking Maia-centric prompts on Tumblr all through July!


End file.
